NATIONAL OR LOCAL?

The most striking feature of the registration figures in recent years has been the lack of growth of the College. For the past dozen years the number of undergraduates has remained practically stationary. To be sure, there is nothing alarming or even serious in this fact alone; for mere numbers should never be an end of higher education. Of great importance, however, is the failure of the College to grow in its western representation. One of Harvard's ideals is to be a national university; and this means that it must draw its students, as President Eliot has pointed out, from all classes of society and all sections of the country. This means a national atmosphere in the College itself, as well as a greater influence upon the affairs and thought of the entire nation.

Present conditions in the College do not give cause for satisfaction. The number of students coming from regions west of the Mississippi was 155 in 1912-13, 131 in 1913-14, 165 in 1914-15. To take perhaps a fairer example, the number of students whose homes are west and south of Pennsylvania has, during the last three years, been only slightly over four hundred. And more than half of the enrollment in Harvard College is from Massachusetts alone.

What is the reason for this failure to grow nationally? Professor Munro in the current Graduates' Magazine explains the greater increase in size of western universities on the ground that, because western states are growing more rapidly it is only natural that their own colleges should reap the benefit. Obviously this, while it has explanatory value, cannot reconcile the College to the danger of becoming a local institution. The activities of the Harvard Clubs throughout the country and of the now defunct Territorial Clubs show that Harvard men are not content with explaining the phenomenon. It is the opinion of many that the examination system is largely responsible. This feeling has led to the establishment of the New Plan which, while good as far as it goes, has not changed the situation radically. The Faculty looks with horror upon admission by certificate. But is not a modification of such a system possible, which would preserve standards and yet remove the bugaboo of examinations for worthy men?